Technology-Rich Schools Up Close

Barbara B. Levin and Lynne Schrum

Schools that use technology well have key commonalities, including a project-based curriculum and supportive, distributed leadership.

How do school districts with long track records of successfully using technology approach technology integration? What can schools that are trying practices like 1:1 laptop programs or flipped classes learn from districts that have long implemented such practices?

We recently studied eight secondary districts throughout the United States that exemplify the creative use of technology in K–12 schools, particularly what leaders in these schools did to make sure technology enhanced learning.1
For these districts, we found, using technology is not the goal. It never was. These schools achieved their results by focusing on learning-centered goals like making learning relevant, providing new opportunities to close achievement gaps, and improving graduation rates and college readiness. In other words, their goal was to educate students for work and life in the 21st century, not just to add technology.